


So No One Told You (After) Life Was Gonna Be This Way

by breakfastbeebo



Category: Bandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - A Little Less Sixteen Candles (Music Video), Angsty backstories, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationships, M/M, Vampire!Brendon, Vampire!Pete, Vampires, vampire!william
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2018-11-05 15:10:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11015967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breakfastbeebo/pseuds/breakfastbeebo
Summary: To try and protect each other from the growing vampire climate of the Windy City, six relative strangers have all gathered in a basement bunker of an old abandoned shirtwaist factory.Patrick tries to keep everything (and everyone) together; Gabe lives the most normal life, coming home to three vampires (and dating one); Ryan still doesn't know what he's doing there and how his life has gotten so damn weird; Pete's the oldest amongst them-- in both human years and time on the planet; William is just trying to live as normally as he can, trying to change the definitions of being a vampire; and Brendon is just trying to figure out what it means to be undead.Honestly, what could go wrong?





	1. The One Where Patrick Almost Kills William

**Author's Note:**

> My first chapter for this 'verse! I hope you all enjoy it! xoxo
> 
> Find out what happens when Patrick walks in on his friends and assumes the worst.

It was around 6 p.m., but William was wide awake. Brendon and Pete were asleep in their rooms, taking the “creature of the night” thing a little _too_ literally. William figured if they lived with three human beings, the least they could do was try and adapt to them; they were the ones with the superhuman abilities after all.

Gabe was the last one with a real job, or at least the one that left the house regularly. William didn’t know what he did exactly, but it was enough to keep them in their basement bunker comfortably and without any suspicion. Patrick worked mostly covering their tracks and tried to erase William, Brendon, and Pete from the media, in both face and name. Ryan was a writer, but William wasn’t permitted to read any of his work; he only showed it to Brendon, only to have waves of self-doubt and throw it away.

William used to be like that, back when he was alive. He’d been dead for about five years at that point though, so the overall approval or opinion of the living world ranked pretty low on his radar. Last time he tried to interact with one outside of the bunker, they nearly shoved him into a tanning bed. Not in any attempts to turn him to ash, but rather eradicate his unbecoming paleness. Figures.

“Coming in!” Gabe called after banging on the door. He always announced his arrival since the stairs leading to the basement bunker were near a window, casting sun down the steps whenever he entered. Patrick constantly suggested buying curtains or boarding the window up, but Pete continued to counter that the building had been abandoned for decades and any change of it would be noticed immediately. They were just keeping it at the _same_ level of collapse. Not that the city looked much better than their building; Gabe constantly reported back how the city was falling apart since the outbreak.

“Welcome home.” William said, standing from the couch. “How was work?”

“It was alright. Parents called me during lunch.” Gabe shrugged, meeting William halfway and kissing him on the cheek; the other boys were all lost in work or asleep. “To try and set me up with their neighbor’s daughter. _Again_.”

“Oh, exciting.” William said, helping Gabe slide his jacket off. “She does know that I’m not _really_ dead, right?”

“She still lights candles for you every fucking year.” Gabe said, taking his jacket from William and throwing it over the back of the couch. “She’d definitely not believe me now.”

“She was unhappy with the thought of you taking Sarah O’Connor to the prom without a chaperone. I imagine living with your recently un-dead boyfriend isn’t much of an upgrade.” William agreed, slipping his arms around Gabe’s waist.

“We’re just roommates, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Gabe laughed, placing his hands on the small of William’s back. “My stuff is collecting dust in your room because I’m _obviously_ using it.”

“Obviously.” William muttered, kissing Gabe.

They were still learning how to get around William’s abnormally long and sharp teeth. Gabe tried to avoid hitting his own teeth against them, while William had to make sure he was gentle with them, using them to playfully bite and tug on Gabe’s bottom lip. It was something he was skilled with when he was alive, and was slowly trying to live up to (ironically enough) his old self.

“Wait, where is everyone?” Gabe asked, stepping back and sliding his hands into William’s.

“Brendon and Pete are sleeping and Patrick is in his office, I think. Got a call about Pete appearing in _his own_ nightclub last night.” Pete was technically dead according to the city of Chicago, but he still frequented the nightclub he owned in his living past. Because he was an idiot. “And Ryan’s writing I think. Or sleeping.”

“So everyone’s busy.”

“Busy or dead.” William nodded, following Gabe’s steps towards the couch. “Why? What did you have in mind?” He pretended his was clueless. He pretended like he couldn’t hear Gabe’s heartbeat beginning to climb, thumping in his ears. He walked closer to Gabe, edging him up against the arm of the couch. He was able to push him back onto it with one finger, smirking as he placed a knee on the armrest. “I was thinking just a quiet night to ourselves.”

“Yeah. Me too.” Gabe laughed, looking up at William as he pushed himself up on his elbows. “Just a night in.”

“Isn’t _every_ night a night in.” William countered, climbing over Gabe to rest his head on his chest. His ear didn’t have to be that close to his heart to hear it, but the near deafening level was always soothing. It was nice to hear something pounding in a chest since William hadn’t heard his own in a while.

It had been a while for Gabe too. They only knew each other a short time before William turned, and they had only started to date recently. William was sure it was weird for him and felt guilty that working the night shift would lead Gabe to this underground and secret lifestyle. William was going to be happy until things eventually went back to William hiding himself to his room.

“Sorry I’m not nocturnal.” Gabe laughed, placing a hand on the back of William’s head.

“You know, I can fix that.” William joked, his fingers tapping the side of Gabe’s neck. “I’ve never done it before, but I’m sure I could figure it out.” He pretended to examine Gabe’s neck, feeling around for his pulse point, it jumping out against his chilled fingers.

“I don’t think my job would appreciate having to change my schedule.” Gabe countered. “I mean, I do run a whole department of living people.”

“And?” William said. “I _died_ at work.” He continued to poke at Gabe’s neck, knowing his hands were freezing.

Gabe laughed and swatted his hand away. “Stop. You know that kills me.”

“Now you know how I feel.” While Gabe held his other hand away, he slipped the other under his shirt. Gabe laughed again, trying to push William away with a light shove to his chest. The motion was ultimately useless, William able to maintain his balance and push back.

Gabe told William to stop again, the two of them playfully shoving each other—well, William pretending to push Gabe, knowing very well if he tried at all, he would shove Gabe across the room. Gabe was playfully calling for help, when William felt a hand grip tightly in his hair. It didn’t alarm him until he felt Gabe’s _two_ hands resting on his waist.

William was yanked backwards swiftly, his feet flying out as he tried to land on the floor again.

“STOP!” Patrick hadn’t been busy at all. He was instead trying to scalp William with his bare hands. “Gabe, get up!”

“Pat, what are you doing?” Gabe cried, sitting up and pushing his shirt down.

Patrick held William off to his side, low enough William couldn’t stand, but high enough that he wasn’t able to kneel. He flung his hands out to try and peel Patrick’s hands off his hair. His hands slapped at Patrick’s, not able to use any actual force or risk accidentally breaking Patrick’s fingers. After slapping didn’t seem to impair his grip, William reached out to grab his leg, trying to unbalance him.

“Don’t try anything!” Patrick yelled, his voice shaking. Another hand came down by William’s face, a small silver cross glinting in the dim lighting.

“Patrick, he’s not hurting anyone!” Gabe reasoned, standing. “We were just—” Oh shit. William’s life suddenly hung in the balance of whether or not Gabe had the courage to come clean. If that cross came any closer, William was going to explain it all on his own.

“I know what I heard.” Patrick was the most experienced with vampires, but was also easily frightened. Not necessarily trigger happy, but if it wasn’t for the fact that Pete was almost always within a ten-foot radius, William would probably be strung up by his hair awaiting the sunrise. “I knew something was off when you started trying to sleep at night.” Yeah, William was trying to make it so he and Gabe were awake at the same times.

“Pat, would you just let me _go_!” William yelled. “You are going to rip out my damn hair.” If he ripped it out, it would never grow back.

“Don’t push it, Beckett.” Patrick pulled a stake from his pocket and pressed it against the hand William had over Patrick’s. “Somebody explain what’s happening.”

“Nothing! We are two... consenting adults.” Gabe tried to step over to William, but staggered back as Patrick threatened him with the wooden weapon. It wouldn’t do much damage, but William remembered what splinters were like.

“That’s not _helping_.” William shouted, kicking his feet out to Gabe. “Just fucking _say it_.”

“Hey, some of us are trying to sleep—Whoa! What the fuck are you doing!” Pete emerged from the back of the bunker, rushing over to Patrick and trying to wave him down. “Patrick. Be careful with that.”

“He was trying to bite Gabe. I saw it. Gabe called for help—”

“Nice job, genius.” William hissed, allowing his teeth to flash at the room. Patrick pressed the stake against his chest, his shirt starting to rip.

“That’s not what that was.” Gabe tried to backpedal, words getting backed up as Patrick placed the stake closer to William’s chest. As he tried to explain, his heartbeat started to get louder. William couldn’t quite hear what everyone was saying. He saw them moving, waving arms and hands, but no words were louder than Gabe’s panic.

William tried to read Gabe’s lips, tried to pick the sentences out of his growing panic. William looked around to Pete, trying to read his expression, trying to tell just how close to death he actually was. Patrick was still clutching the stake with white knuckles. William nudged it with his elbow, trying to get it just an inch below or above his heart—living by a fraction of an inch is still living. As William tried to inch it away from him, Patrick’s hand pulled back swiftly. Gabe’s lips were no longer moving and everyone was staring at William. He closed his eyes and waited for Patrick’s hand to come swinging back down. All William wanted to do was wait for Gabe to come home and enjoy a night in, and here he was, seconds away from dying. _Again_.

William’s head slammed against the ground as Patrick untangled his hand from his hair. He sprawled out at everyone’s feet, rubbing his stinging scalp.

“Ow.” William winced, finally being able to hear his own voice. “What gives, man?”

“What gives?” Pete echoed, holding a hand out to help him up. “I think we have the right to ask _you_ that.” His smirk told William everything that Gabe had said. “You could’ve _told_ us. Patrick was about a splinter away from ashing your ass.”

“I’m fully aware. Thanks.” William got to his feet and stared at Patrick, letting the height difference add venom to his glare.

“You were far too close to his neck!” Patrick countered, pointing between the two of them. William didn't typically remember wandering hands being a part of turning _anyone_. “And what was I supposed to think! You know how Brendon got turned.”

“But see, no fangs.” Gabe gestured to his teeth hastily. "I promise. We're just...  _together_." Even without a beating heart, William felt something flutter as Gabe admitted the truth to their friends.

“You’re right.” Patrick nodded. “Carry on… I guess.” He looked apologetic as he walked back to his room, leaving them alone again. He motioned for Pete to follow, who looked at Gabe and William again, fangs pressed against his bottom lip as he suppressed a smirk.

“No fangs, but I see those hickeys pretty damn clearly.”

“Dammit, Pete—give me that stake!”


	2. The One Where Brendon Complains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, we have a part two! Sorry for the delay but writer's block got the best of me! Hope you enjoy this chapter as always, and if you have any prompts or ideas for coming "episodes", please be sure to let me know! Find me on tumblr @breakfastbeebo

All the humans were asleep and Pete, Brendon, and William were awake in the late hours of the evening. William was admittedly tired, having been trying to change his sleep schedule to match Gabe’s, but still not able to pass up a lesson for Brendon. Gabe was always such a nice sleeper; he didn’t mind the body next to him being cold and motionless most of the night. William wanted to be in bed so badly, but instead he was listening to a nineteen-year-old complain about his new outgrown teeth.

“How do you _eat_ with these things?” Brendon sighed, poking at his teeth experimentally with his tongue. He was lying across the couch, Pete sitting on the back of it and William sitting on the floor.

“Exactly. We eat _with them_.” Pete responded, rolling his eyes. “You just poke and slurp, man.”

“That’s disgusting.”

“We don’t have souls, ass hat.” Pete said, kicking him. “Stop complaining.”

“How long has _he_ been dead?” Brendon asked, turning his head to look at William and hide his expression from Pete.

“A long time.” William laughed. “We weren’t even born in the same century.”

“No way!” Brendon sat up to look at Pete, taking in his modern looking appearance with new eyes. “How old _are_ you?”

“I lost count.” Pete shrugged. “How old are you?”

“I am _supposed_ to turn twenty in April.” Brendon folded his arms across his chest to pout. He still hadn’t accepted his death and new life. He still tried to look in mirrors, tried to meet Ryan at the front door, tried to avoid drinking his first pint of blood. William understood his reluctance but also knew he had taken Pete’s advice and guidance a lot more quickly than Brendon was taking theirs. Granted, William came to Pete asking for a home while Brendon was found, half-dead on the street before the sunrise. Brendon had little choice in the matter, even when it came to being turned.

“Yeah, I get it. Your homecoming date got a little frisky after the dance. Whatever.” Pete sighed, standing from the couch and jumping down. “I’ve known the guy for decades—he’s not _that_ bad.”

“He _killed me_!” Brendon yelled, waving to his teeth again. If the humans weren’t already stirring awake by their late-night chatter, they would be soon at Brendon’s strained voice.

“Necking gone wrong, huh?” William joked weakly, shrugging. He got bit while running trash out for his work, getting caught in the dark shadows of a thunderstorm, screaming for help into rumbling thunder clouds. Patrick had found him and put him in a safe place—something Patrick told him after finding him and Pete again much later. William learned that the sooner one takes their turning as a death sentence, the sooner they can keep living. “Sometimes it happens.”

“I’m going to be nineteen for _ever_.” Brendon cried. “I can’t even grow a fucking beard!”

“Not that exciting.” Pete answered, having abandoned the conversation for the refrigerator. “Anyone hungry?” Both rejected the offer, Brendon still sounded disgusted and William not wanting to bring the smell of blood back to bed with him. “You sure? Pat was able to get more AB from the blood bank today.”

“Positive.”

“No, negative, but it’s still good.” Pete said.

“No—I mean, I’m fine. Thanks.” William said again. He stood from the floor to make his decline far clearer. “I’m going to bed.”

“Bed? It’s two in the morning.” Brendon noted, tilting his head farther back to check the clock. “How are you tired?”

“I sleep at night.” William said. The concept shouldn’t have been that foreign to him already.

“That’s weird.”

“My boyfriend is human.” William retorted, starting for his room.

“Isn’t that weird?” Brendon asked, not letting William go. “I mean. Isn’t that like, necrophilia?”

“I’m not dead. Just life-less.”

“Same thing.” Brendon scoffed, defending his naïve logic.

“ _Very_ different.” William insisted. “You have so much to learn.”

“What if I don’t want to learn all these ridiculous rules?” Brendon argued, standing to challenge William. “You aren’t my parents.”

“Then you die. The humans find you and you die.” Pete answered. He broke the news between sips from a tall glass of AB negative. He lived for the dramatic gothic appearance, as if he was living a Bram Stoker novel. “If you don’t learn and you don’t listen, they will kill you.”

“But I’m already dead.” Brendon whispered, his lower lip wobbling. “Can they really kill me?” Fear overtook his defiant expression and reminded William that Brendon was still just nineteen, mentally he was probably younger, being stuck in a cycle of self-defeat.

“Don’t worry about it now. Just… Just promise you’ll be careful until you get a handle on things.” William interrupted, glaring at Pete. “And you aren’t allowed to talk to each other until we have at least one person who can hold a silver cross in the room. We need a mediator.”

“We do _not_.” Pete sighed, taking another sip.

“ _PATRICK!”_ Brendon cried, looking behind him nervously.

“Alright, fuck the humans. _I’m_ going to kill you.” Pete bounded over the couch to Brendon, standing in front of him within a heartbeat—well, they didn’t have any to keep track, but William remembered the length. Pete flashed his fangs, hissing at Brendon and cackling as he cowered backwards.

“Stop it, Pete.” William commanded.

“Aw, fine.” Pete sneered, waving the cup of blood under Brendon’s nose. Even if he disagreed with the need, his eyes locked onto the red bead of blood sliding down the side of the glass. He still had the energy and hope in him to fight the urges, the thoughts he considered indecent, the guilt and shame.

Brendon scurried away, going to his room at the end of the hall. He slammed the door and they both heard him scramble for the lock; a comfort to most humans even though all vampires could kick in the door without a single thought. He was still so scared and so young; William knew what it was like to be foreign to your own instincts and body. Old habits were hard to change, and William wasn’t about to start lecturing him again that late at night—Pete on the other hand…

“Would you leave him alone?” He whispered, slapping Pete’s arm. “You can’t be _so_ old you forget when you first turned. You could have literally been burned on a stake. Give the kid a little compassion.”

Pete clenched his jaw before downing the rest of his drink. “It’s almost as if you forgot what it was like to scare, William.” He sighed. “I didn’t think I could make a vampire look scared to death. But, I still continue to reach new heights. Unlike others.” He eyed William, glaring at what felt to be every inch of his skeleton.

“I’m not getting weaker. I’m just changing my hours… I’m trying to adapt. Patrick’s trying to work on something to keep our skin from frying in the sun, if it works, we can live out there again! And I want to be ready for it.”

“It’s not _going_ to work!” Pete cried, throwing his glass down. The glass rained down on their feet, neither of them wearing shoes but neither of them in danger. “You can’t change who you are now, William. I thought you would have learned that by now!”

“I don’t care about anything else but _not_ having the constant fear of death hanging over me. And don’t you _dare_ say that comes with this. I didn’t _ask_ for this.” William yelled back. “I didn’t want to be _this_ , and I’m sorry that I’m trying to be the old me I used to know. The one who could have dated Gabe, the one that could have gone on dates with him, the one that could grow old with him.” William stepped away from Pete, glass piercing his foot. He kept walking, distancing himself. “You know, Brendon’s questions have me thinking… I don’t think I’ve fully mourned yet. I think I need more time to grieve the life someone took from me.”

“Don’t be dramatic—”

“Don’t be so cold. Not everyone was already born heartless, ready to live a life of quasi-death.” William grabbed his bedroom door and swung it open, knowing Gabe was already awake from their shouting. “Some of us prefer to be warm, to have heartbeats, to actually have a beating heart. And to actually feel with it.”

William slammed the door just as Brendon did, Gabe sitting up in bed. He whispered to William, asking if he was okay, if there was anything he could do. William shook his head, resting it against the door. He soothed Gabe’s worry with benign words of assurance before turning to walk to the bed. Before releasing the doorknob, William turned the lock.


	3. The One Where Pete's Alive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Halloween chapter! Hope everyone had a wonderful time if they chose to celebrate!  
> Find out what happens when Pete decides to pull the team out of the bunker and gets them all right where he wants them.

Brendon had fallen asleep on William. He wasn’t sure how exactly, but William woke up to being crushed under the small, compact body of a drooling nineteen-year-old. Sure, Brendon had been helplessly weeping a few hours before about his suddenly ended life, and how everything was pointless—a very uplifting conversation for a Friday afternoon. William had been sitting with Ryan, trying to pull answers out of him, like what he was even doing in their bunker anyway, when Brendon came stomping out of his room distraught and awake in the light of day. Ryan immediately retracted and watched the scene with hesitation and shyness, leaving William to comfort Brendon.

Now, William was contorted against the armrest of the couch, his neck bent and arms trapped under Brendon’s body. He didn’t remember falling asleep. He remembered wrapping a stiff arm around Brendon, holding him still as he shuddered with sobs, but he didn’t remember slipping off to sleep. Either way, it was the dead of night and Ryan had left them, leaving William to be growing stiff under dead weight, like a sorer rigor mortis.

Gabe was probably already asleep, having come home and gone straight to bed after seeing William sleeping in the daytime. He had been working so hard to change his sleep schedule and now some whiny teenager ruined it for him.

“Brendon.” William hissed, lifting his legs to try and jostle him awake. “Brendon, get the fuck off of me.” He remained still and stoic. He wasn’t sure what else he could do to wake him, but also wouldn’t startle him and ruin his finally-achieved calm mood. William sighed and resigned to becoming skeletal origami for a few more hours.

“ _Up! Everyone up!_ ” Both Brendon and William jumped at Patrick’s surprisingly booming voice. “I just got a call. Pete’s out again.”

“Are you kidding? Will he never learn?” William grumbled, pushing Brendon the rest of the way off of him, gaining use of his arms.

“Wait, what happened?” Brendon asked. “He’s  _out_? Is that dangerous?”

“Mostly just stupid.” William answered.

“Pete used to own a nightclub forever ago… Well, a shorter forever than he’s been alive, but a few decades ago. He owned it completely post-mortem without a problem, until… you know… the seventies ended and people started to actually check business’s validity. And the heartbeat of the owner.” Patrick answered, digging through the hall closet, grabbing a jacket and stuffing its pockets with vials. “He constantly goes back to visit. One of these days he’s going to get caught.”

“Won’t they just be happy he’s alive?” Brendon asked. “I mean, alive to them?”

“No. With the outbreak happening?” Patrick shook his head quickly, glasses moving on his nose. “They’ll kill him. Two and two will come together and they’ll kill him.”

“Oh… Well that’s not too bad.” Brendon muttered.

“I would typically agree, but he’s the oldest one we have.” William sighed, standing to go to his room and grab his coat. “He’s one of the first bloodlines. If he dies, everything happening up there gets  _worse_ — _Gabe, we_ _gotta_ _go_.”

“Why does he have to go?” Brendon asked, wringing his hands. “Do I have to? D—Does everyone?”

“No. Ryan can’t.” Patrick responded shortly, checking his other pockets. “Okay, we have to start moving.”

“Wait, why can’t he? Isn’t he a human?”

“He’s been Pete’s planned meal for about a year.”

“He wants to  _eat_   _Ryan_?” Brendon cried. “That’s… That’s disgusting.”

“It’s how he expresses affection.” William snorted. “I’ve obviously learned other ways. Bloodlust with him is kinda weird. And literal.”

“Oh my god, my life  _is_  over.” Brendon muttered again.

“No no no. No crying. Wait until we come back.” William begged. “Please. God, please don’t cry again.  _Don't_." Brendon nodded to William and sniffled, trying to force a strong expression over his quivering lips. "Good. Keep it together, Brendon."

"I'm up. I'm ready." Gabe said, emerging from the bedroom, pulling a sweatshirt over his head. "I am going to kill this motherfucker. I want to sleep. Just  _once_."

"I know. I got you the net this time. Shoot away." William tossed the weighted net at Gabe, who caught it and quickly pocketed it, starting for the door. "Let's go."

Patrick led the way outside, having Pete's exact location. Stepping into the direct moonlight made William feel like he was released from a skin-tight cage. Each breath felt longer, his senses heightening and eyesight growing sharper in the darkness, and his stride growing stronger. Despite William's most recent attempts to change his hours of activity over to daylight, a creature of the night was always at their best in the day's darkest hour.

The group moved skillfully, but with every bit of speed they could manage—although William was practically crawling. There were cults and clubs and gangs stirring in what seemed like the city's constant darkness, but definitely utilized the early hour to cause the most trouble. Since William didn't actually belong to any clan and was living with a known hunter, no one liked seeing him around. Pete was going to get them all killed.

The nightclub shook the street as they approached. It was overflowing with people, noise, and neon lights. If William had the blood flow to enjoy alcohol the same way he did as a human, he could see the appeal of the place, but then again, he didn't, so he couldn't. Fucking vampires.

"Okay, you two go around back. I'm going to try and sneak in the front." Patrick said, nodding Gabe and William towards the alley that ran along the building. "William, keep your mouth  _shut_ _._ Don't flash a single fang to anyone."

"Thanks for the reminder." William said, rolling his eyes and starting for the back entrance of the club. Every mission was his  _first_ mission according to Patrick.

Gabe followed closely behind, hiding his weapon in his sweatshirt pocket. William grabbed his hand and pulled it behind him, giving the impression they were trying to find privacy to any voyeurs rather than trying to sniff out Pete. With all the sweaty, drunk bodies, William had a difficult time separating what he was detecting. He kept hearing every pounding heartbeat, every heavy breath. The alley echoed the sounds of the music and the voices, clouding Gabe's senses as well.

"I can't get anything." William admitted, stopping in the alley and resting against the wall opposite of Gabe.

"Maybe you should try the roof? I can spot you from down here." Gabe suggested, gazing upward. The club was three stories high. Pete could be on any one of them.

"No, we should probably try from the bottom up." William said. He took another step forward and was met with an affronting smell of blood. It was a wall, just as sound as the brick ones around him. A fresh kill was nearby. William felt dizzy as the scent passed him, sticking him in the center of a hazed nightmare. Gabe couldn't smell it so William allowed himself to inhale as much as he could without being noticed. Gabe knew what William was and how he had to survive, but William didn't like to make it a habit of letting Gabe see his blood-thirsty side.

"What is it?" Gabe asked, trying to follow William's eyes down the alley. "What do you see?"

"Stay here." William said, touching his chest to push him back. His heartbeat met William's fingers. It just about burned William, so pure and naively worried, William couldn't come in contact with it.

He inched to the end of the alley with slow steps and even slower breaths. There was so much blood. William could just see it pooling on the asphalt, imagine it darkening as time passed as the person called out for help to the toothy grins he thought would save him. It was a disgusting and horrifying image, but William knew what to expect.

Despite not having left the bunker in weeks, William was still spot-on. Except there was still someone crouched over the body, teeth sunken into their neck. William approached the scene with hesitation, weaponless and unsure if he could jump to the top of the building faster than the just-fed vampire in front of him. He cleared his throat and stopped a toe-touch away from the pool of blood.

"Saved some for you, William." Pete looked up from the body, blood covering his chin and stretching up the sides of his cheeks, turning into a somehow more horrific-looking faux Glasgow smile. "Come on."

"Pete, what the fuck are you doing!" William yelled, about to pull him off the body. The thick squelch of the blood under his shoe seemed to stick him to the spot. He'd never get the smell out. He'd never be able to forget the scene. He'd never be able to rewrite himself.

"What's wrong? Squeamish?" Pete teased, spitting out a blood clot onto William's shoes. "Thought you weren't like that fucking teenager."

"I don't kill people, Pete. I refuse." William argued, lifting his chin. "And I don't let people get killed. Now, come on before you end up getting skewered."

"I won't." Pete laughed. "No one even knows I'm here."

"We do."

"Because I  _wanted_ you to." Pete sighed, his tongue lining his fangs. "I've got you right where I want you, Bill."

"I don't have time for games. Let's get you back—"

"I know Pat and Gabe are constantly trying to breathe life back into you, but you don't have to be like that. This is natural, Bill." Pete coerced, stroking the stiff chest of the man at their feet.

"There is nothing natural about this!"

"It is now. There are more of us than them at this point, Will." Pete sighed. "I've seen the rise and fall of these outbreaks for centuries. This is the prime for us— _enjoy it_!"

"I don't  _want_  to." William barked, kicking congealed blood in Pete's face. "This outbreak is going to pass. Patrick's even working on—"

"Patrick's lying to you." Pete shouted, getting to his feet. "Jesus Christ, Bill. He's lying to you. His inventions aren't working. He's just trying to buy us some time to control the clans so we can live regular lives up here. He's trying, but you won't ever be human-like again. Bill, I'm sorry. He's lying."

"Shut up." William muttered. "Shut up. Y—You don't know what Patrick's up to. You don't know anything."

"Bill, I talk with him every night. I read his notes. I take all his fucking experimental drinks. Everything. I know this. Trust me."

"No."

"Bill—"

"You know, I came here to save you, but you know what, you can fucking die out here." William cried. "Fuck you and your scare tactics. Fuck you. Fuck  _you_." William turned to go back to Gabe. He'd leave Pete without any argument. He'd know what Patrick was really up to.

"Bill, wait." Pete said quietly, rushing up and grabbing his arm. "He's right there."

"That doesn't mean I want to eat him!" William cried, trying to rip his arm away but Pete's grip was too strong right after feeding.

"No. Not  _hi_ _m_." Pete whispered. He leaned into William, the blood on his lips shining in the dim streetlamp over them. "Gabe... You know he's out there right." He nodded towards the alley. "I can hear him."

"I know... He followed me." William said slowly, unsure of Pete's secret tone of voice. He sounded apologetic. He sounded afraid. "Why?"

"How do you think he'd feel if he heard all this?" Pete asked. "I mean, would you tell him?"

"I'm not having this discussion with you. Gabe is none of your business."

"Humans don't react well to being told their lover is going to stay  _this way_  forever." Pete said shortly. "Hope is very seductive."

"No." William said. "No, that's not true. That's not true. Don't put your shit on me. Don't—"

"William, I'm trying to help you." Pete argued, his temper rising. "I am trying to give you the insight I never had! I'm how many centuries older than you—I know what I'm talking about."

William pushed Pete away defiantly, able to get away and start running back towards Gabe. He finally began to hear his heartbeat before he saw him. He was leaning against the same spot William had left him, gripping his weapon in his hand tightly and keeping lookout. William rushed up to him with a smile, already pleased to see someone with sanity. He reached for Gabe's arm but his sweatshirt fabric slipped through his fingers as he turned away.

"William...." Gabe breathed, staring at him with wide eyes, his face draining to white.

"What?"

"Is that blood?" He pointed to the print on his arm Pete had left. Instead of using his hand to point, Gabe used the gun.

William didn't have to be good at picturing the horrors of vampire life anymore; it was happening right in front of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halloween chapter means a special cliffhanger!  
> "Episode four" coming at you very soon with the answer to every vampire's least favorite question...

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Be sure to comment here or find me on tumblr @breakfastbeebo! Love to hear what you think-- or other ideas you want to read!
> 
> Also, instead of posting a bunch of different works, I am going to add chapters to this fic that will be other "episodes" in a way. I'll label the chapters like this one to make it easier to find the part you are looking for.


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